Glenn Randall is the famed Hollywood horse trainer who taught Trigger to smile and Black Beauty to prance, and he spent his formative years in Wyoming learning his craft.
Randall honed his trade by following the rodeo circuit and entertaining audiences with his trained horses at county fairs.
At a 1986 dinner honoring his nearly 70 years of training horses, Randall said he first became interested in trick horses after seeing acts at fairs and circuses as a kid.
He would go on to be the man who trained the horses of some of the most famous Western movie stars that sometimes became celebrities themselves.
Perhaps Randall’s most celebrated work was training the dozens of horses used in the Academy Award-winning 1959 classic movie “Ben Hur.”
He also trained the horses for the film’s epic chariot race.
A year before shooting began, Randall went to Europe to find horses to train prior to filming.
Randall trained all 78 horses used in the movie and then, after filming, went on tour with his sons with the chariots and two teams of his horses.
Glenn Randall and Trigger Junior, one of the trick horses in Hollywood trained by Randall. (Joel Druch Dortch collection) 
Glenn Randall trained trick horses for a decade in Wyoming before going to Hollywood and training horses such as Trigger, the famous horse of 1950s star, Roy Rogers. (Roy Dillow Collection) 
Glenn Randall (in black hat behind Roy Rogers on Trigger) was a horse trainer that trained some of the most famous Hollywood horses in the 1950s to 1980s. One of his first customers was Roy Roger. He trained most of the horses for the western star including Little Trigger. 
Glenn Randall Sr., left, trained all 78 horses used in the movie"Ben Hur” and its famous chariot race, the act that brought Randall the broadest audience exposure. (Courtesy Photo)
Breaking Horses For The Cavalry
Born on Christmas Day, 1908, in Melbeta, Nebraska, Randall began training horses when he was 9 years old.
He taught his pony to take him to school and to wait to take him back home.
By the time he was a young teenager, Randall was breaking horses and mules for the U.S. Cavalry at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.
“He was one of six civilian trainers who rough-broke horses for the cavalry and artillery before they were shipped out,” Carol Ann Ross wrote for the September 1986 Western Horseman magazine showcasing the dinner in honor of Randall.
For the next 20 years, Randall followed the rodeo trail with his highly trained horses, according to media accounts in the 1961 Casper Star-Tribune.
It was from these humble beginnings, Ross said, that Randall grew his reputation and became dubbed "the greatest horse trainer in the world."
KoKo The Miracle Horse
KoKo, nicknamed "The Miracle Horse of the Movies," was one such horse that Randall worked extensively with.
KoKo was the personal horse of Rex Allen, a famous singing cowboy in the 1950s.
In the golden years of Westerns, the studios stipulated that actors would furnish their own horses and wardrobe.
Allen’s chocolate chestnut horse with his white mane and tail was a Morgan bought when the horse was 10 years old from Randall, said Donald Greyfield, a historian of Hollywood animals.
Randall continued to train the horse for Allen during the cowboy's years as a performer.
Allen and KoKo would circle the arena at live shows, then do a spectacular sliding stop.
Rex would leap off, pick up his guitar and sing a few Western songs, followed by a series of tricks from KoKo.
At the end of the show, they would bed down together on the arena floor side-by-side. KoKo would reach over and pull a blanket off Rex with his teeth.
These were all tricks the horse had been taught by Randall.
Wyoming Fairs
Randall started his career training trick horses in Torrington, Wyoming.
He had moved there in his 20s, and it was there that the mayor of Torrington asked Randall to work with his Standardbred trotters and pacers.
He also trained jumpers, racehorses, and his first “specialty horses” during his time in Wyoming, said Ross.
In the May 25, 1936, Casper Star-Tribune, the highly anticipated local annual horse show was said to have featured a presentation of trick horses by owner and trainer Glenn H. Randall of Torrington. He would have been 29 years old at the time.
His horses — Rags “The Wonder Horse,” Cocoa “The Sky Walker" and Phiz “The Handsome Spotted Horse” — all wowed the Casper spectators.
The Casper Star-Tribune reported that 15-year-old Ozzie Dunaway of Lusk put Phiz through his varied tricks while Randall demonstrated the skill and almost human intelligence of Rags and Cocoa.
On Aug. 30, 1936, Randall returned to Casper with Rags to march in the Wyoming Parade.
“Rags, the wonder horse, made just as big a hit with Wyoming on Parade throngs as he did with the thousands who attended the annual Horse Show here this spring,” the Tribune reported. “The exclamations of enthusiasm from the Fourth Cavalry riders was a tribute in itself that indicated how superb Rags is.
“His trainer, Glenn Randall of Torrington, is deserving of the highest praise.”
Training Trigger
Randall was hired in 1938 to work the 250 horses in Col. Tim McCoy’s Wild West show. McCoy had also once been a cowboy in Wyoming before becoming a movie star in the 1920s.
The show wasn't a success, and after it folded the cowboy performers were each given $5 and McCoy's thanks.
Randall went to Bakersfield, California, to manage a horse and cattle ranch, then headed south to Hollywood, said Ross.
“In 1942 he got his big break in Hollywood when Roy Rogers asked him to train Trigger,” Ross wrote. “Millions enjoyed Trigger’s performances in the movies, and Glenn’s reputation continued to soar upward with his 'Roy Rogers Liberty Horse Act,' which featured eight palominos that performed for years around the country.”
Randall’s career with horses eventually took him to Italy, Spain, Austria, Canada, Mexico, and Australia.
Randall also trained horses for other celebrities, including Gene Autry, Tex Ritter and Wayne Newton, according to his wife, Lynn Randall, as reported in his 1992 obituary in the Los Angeles Times.
Diamond Decorator was the main horse used by Zorro in the 1950s series. The coal-black horse was trained by Randall’s son, Corky, who carried on the family’s legacy and worked side-by-side with his parents. (Courtesy Photo) 
Buttermilk, a Hollywood horse of Dale Evans, was owned and trained by Randall.The gelding ultimately appeared in all but six of the Roy Rogers Show television episodes that aired Sundays from 1951 to 1957. (Courtesy Photo) 
Dear John was another Hollywood star trained by Randall. Actor Slim Pickens had found the wild-eyed Appaloosa in a Montana pasture and purchased him for $150. It was under Randall’s careful tutelage that Dear John learned to nod, shake his head, buck on cue, and sit like a dog. (Courtesy Photo) 
Buttermilk, a Hollywood horse of Dale Evans, was owned and trained by Randall.The gelding ultimately appeared in all but six of the Roy Rogers Show television episodes that aired Sundays from 1951 to 1957. (Courtesy Photo)
Hollywood’s Horses
Randall developed more than 30 hand commands Trigger would respond to in Roy Rogers’ popular movies and TV show. He also trained a special horse for Dale Evans, Rogers' female lead.
Greyfield said Evans chose a gelding named Taffy as her own mount.
Renamed Buttermilk, the horse was owned and trained by Randall and ultimately appeared in all but six of “The Roy Rogers Show" television episodes that aired Sundays from 1951 to 1957.
“The buckskin quarter horse, with dark points, was actually faster from the blocks than Trigger, which irked Roy and required retakes in scenes when Dale broke away faster, speeding to the rescue,” Greyfield wrote in the horse’s biography on Find A Grave.
As a colt, Buttermilk, then known as Taffy, had been rescued on the way to a slaughterhouse.
A cattle farmer took pity on the severely abused gelding who at first was very mean. Through the love and patient training of his new owners, Taffy became a cutting competition horse and developed a friendly and affectionate disposition.
Randall noticed the horse in a competition at the town of Minatare rodeo in Nebraska and bought the animal, which later became the model for many toys and merchandise as Buttermilk.
The Western Film Legend
Dear John was another equine Hollywood star trained by Randall.
Actor Slim Pickens had found the wild-eyed Appaloosa in a Montana pasture and bought him for $150.
It was under Randall’s careful training that Dear John learned to nod, shake his head, buck on cue, and sit like a dog.
In the 1955 movie “Santa Fe Passage,” Pickens and Dear John famously jumped a wagon in a scene under the direction of Randall.
In the 1958 film “The Big Country,” Dear John tosses Gregory Peck to the dirt in a choreographed bucking scene. Dear John was playing the part of Old Thunder, a horse that tenderfoot Peck tries to ride.
The Appaloosa worked his magic that Randall taught him on television in the popular Westerns of the 1950s and at rodeos.
He was considered a legend on hooves by his biographers.
Perhaps Glenn Randall Sr.’s most celebrated work was training the dozens of horses used in the Academy Award-winning 1959 classic movie “Ben Hur.” That includes training the horses for the film’s epic chariot race. (Masheter Movie Archive via Alamy) 
Perhaps Glenn Randall Sr.’s most celebrated work was training the dozens of horses used in the Academy Award-winning 1959 classic movie “Ben Hur.” That includes training the horses for the film’s epic chariot race. (via Alamy) 
Perhaps Glenn Randall Sr.’s most celebrated work was training the dozens of horses used in the Academy Award-winning 1959 classic movie “Ben Hur.” That includes training the horses for the film’s epic chariot race. (Edward Roth via Alamy) 
Perhaps Glenn Randall Sr.’s most celebrated work was training the dozens of horses used in the Academy Award-winning 1959 classic movie “Ben Hur.” That includes training the horses for the film’s epic chariot race. (Getty Images)
Training Hollywood Heroes
In the March 2002 Western Horseman, Jennifer Schooley wrote that Diamond Decorator was the main horse used by Zorro in the 1950s TV series of the same name.
The coal-black horse was trained by Randall’s son, Corky.
But it was King, a beautiful white horse better known as Phantom, that had the most talent on the show. He was owned and trained by Randall.
“King was white, almost silver-white,” Corky Randall said. “He was very unusual in color and was very good to work with.”
Every time the audience saw a white horse on Zorro, it was King.
According to Schooley, actor Britt Lomond, who played the evil Monastario during the first 13 episodes of “Zorro," referred to King as a very talented actor.
“He never missed a cue,” Lomond said. “He would stand quietly, listening for his cue, and move through the scene flawlessly.”
King was seen in many movies and series, including “The New Adventures of Spin and Marty” as the fabled Dynamite.
Ross said Randall also put the basic training on The Black Stallion for the movie by the same name in 1979 and "The Black Stallion Returns" in 1983.
By then, Randall’s sons Glenn Jr. and Corky were working with him as horse trainers and put the finish on the famous black horse.
Back In Wyoming
After nearly 30 years since his first horse show in Wyoming, Randall was back in Casper with a new show recreating the famous “Ben Hur” chariot race.
In the July 31, 1961, issue of the Casper Star-Tribune, the announcement was made that a “wild chariot race reminiscent of the days of ancient Rome will be staged at the Central Wyoming Nite Rodeo in Casper on all four nights of the rodeo” to be held in early August.
Randall himself was described as a genial, stocky man of modest means, but highly respected in the world of show business.
He and Glenn Jr. performed the stunt each night after the rodeo with their horses, which Randall described in detail.
On the White team, Jockomo is said to be the smartest, Preek the wildest, Whitey to have the best sense of humor, and Goat to be the most hardboiled.
On the Dapple Grey team, Amos and Andy are the fastest, and George and Bill are the comedians, if they get the chance.
Randall drove the White team and his son drove the Dapple Grey team. He told the newspaper that the only thing they could count on his horses to do in the race was to give their utmost.
“I’ve seen a lot of horses in my time, but these 'Ben Hur' horses are my pride and joy,” Randall said. “They run every time out as though they were trying to win the Kentucky Derby, but before and after the race they are as unpredictable as a passel of hound dogs.”
The two teams of four horses recreated climatic moments from Lew Wallace’s famous novel “Ben Hur.” Horses and chariots collided in a crash as wheels flew off and the driver was thrown through the air in a neck-risking stunt.
Purchased for $600 each following the filming of the picture, Randall had the "Ben Hur" horses insured for $100,000, and had more offers for them to work in movies and on television than he could accept in the next two years.
The Casper Star-Tribune reported that by 1961, the motion pictures and TV shows in which Randall-trained horses have appeared grossed more than $100 million during Glenn’s 25 years in show business.
“Randall has never had an accident or been hurt during his long career, although how he escapes injury racing against his son, Glenn Jr., with the Ben Hur teams is something of a minor miracle,” the Casper Star-Tribune reported.
KoKo "The Miracle Horse of the Movies” was a horse trained by Glenn Randall. He was the personal horse of Rex Allen, a famous singing cowboy in the 1950s. (Courtesy Photo) 
Roy Rogers on Trigger, a horse trained by Glenn Randall Sr. (Getty Images) 
In the 1960s, horse trainer Glenn Randall had the reputation as being one of the best horse trainers in the world. He trained many of the famous horses in Hollywood beginning in the late 1930s and up until his death in 1992. (Randall at left and Walter Radde) (Courtesy Photo) 
King, a beautiful white horse better known as Phantom, had the most talent on the 1960s “Zorro” TV show. He was owned and trained by Glenn Randall. (Courtesy Photo)
End Of A Legend
In the mid-1960s, Randall set up a stable in Newhall that furnished horses, mules and horse-drawn carriages for the motion-picture industry.
He later specialized in giving riding lessons, according to his wife.
“I don’t know whether I’ll go to heaven or hell — I’ve done a few things in my life to warrant being either place,” Randall said at the dinner in his honor in 1986. “But wherever I go, I see myself surrounded by horses.
“When I go, I visualize myself going off into the sunset driving four white horses to a chariot and leading old Trigger.”
Randall continued to train horses until a month before his death at age 83 from cancer.
He had been inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, and twice won the American Humane Association’s Patsy Award.
His legacy rides on in old reruns as the famed Hollywood horses he once trained continue to smile and buck on command for old and new audiences across the world.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
